LONDON: Social activist and Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai welcomed Muhammad Iqbal, also known as Iqbal Lala, father of slain Mashal Khan, to Oxford University, where the latter delivered a talk during a session.
Mashal, 23, a student at the Abdul Wali Khan University (AWKU) in Mardan, was beaten and shot to death on April 13 by an unruly mob instigated by rumours that he had committed blasphemy by posting sacrilegious content online.
In her Twitter message, Malala stated, “I was honoured to welcome Muhammad Iqbal Lala to speak at Oxford Uni. His son, Mashal Khan, was brutally killed by a mob in Mardan Pakistan, based on malicious allegations of blasphemy. Mashal advocated against injustice & corruption. We stand with Lala to seek justice for Mashal”.
I was honored to welcome Muhammad Iqbal Lala to speak at Oxford Uni. His son, Mashal Khan, was brutally killed by a mob in Mardan Pakistan, based on malicious allegations of blasphemy. Mashal advocated against injustice & corruption. We stand with Lala to seek justice for Mashal. pic.twitter.com/HkByCex3Uh
— Malala (@Malala) January 29, 2018
Earlier, while delivering the annual Bacha Khan Lecture at the Brunei Gallery of the London University’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), Muhammad Iqbal that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) has failed to fulfil a single promise made to him after the brutal murder of his son.
He further stated that his son greatly believed in the “Last Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him)’s last sermon in which He declared that it’s not your colour or origin or belonging that makes you great but your ideology, character and your faith.”
Meanwhile, an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) hearing the Mashal Khan murder case in Abbottabad reserved its decision, which will be announced on February 7.